It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series

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All Rise...

It's Judge Eric Profancik's review!

The Charge

This is the review to Garry Shandling's DVD.

Opening Statement

Before Larry Sanders, before Jerry Seinfeld, there was Garry Shandling. Just
a neurotic guy with great hair, Garry would launch a show on the Showtime cable
network. And on this show he would destroy the fourth wall of television,
bringing the audience in closer than they've ever been. Back in the day I
watched It's Garry Shandling's Show, at least until I went off to
college. I remember really liking it and I'm excited to have a chance to revisit
it. I guess because I stopped watching it to go to school I didn't realize it
was on for four years! My, that's a lot of TV to watch in a few short
weeks…

Facts of the Case

Garry Shandling, famous comedian, has just moved into a new condo in the
Happy Pilgrim Estates. His platonic female friend Nancy (Molly Cheek, American Pie), his best friend Pete
(Michael Tucci, Diagnosis Murder and his wife Jackie and son Grant also
live in the complex. The show is about Garry, his friends, his family, and his
life in general; but his life is also the show. Garry knows his life is a
television show and so does everyone else. Breaking the fourth wall, enter
Garry's life, see what he does day-to-day, watch famous celebrities stop by, and
watch Leonard (Paul Willson, Cheers) sneak into another episode.

The Evidence

It's hard to describe It's the Garry Shandling Show. In the way that
Seinfeld was the show about nothing, I feel that would also apply to
Shandling. The show is just a collection of days in the life of Garry and
his friends and family, doing whatever. Of course the big trick for the show is
that there's direct audience participation, figuratively and literally. Every
show opens with Garry talking directly to the camera, giving a quick comedic
monologue. As the show progresses, people talk about the show, go offstage to
reveal the sets and cameras, and many times there is active audience
participation—at the request of Garry. It's difficult to explain but easy
in execution. (Not that the writers would agree with that assessment.)

I've referenced Seinfeld a couple of times; for, to me, it's a direct
successor to Shandling (though the former started while the latter was
still on Showtime). Most obvious to me is how both just are about nothing. But
my favorite comparison is how the Garry/Leonard relationship is akin to the
Jerry/Newman relationship. Perhaps I'm a bit off, perhaps I'm right, and perhaps
this has been analyzed all over the place already. I don't know as I've never
done much research into Seinfeld and what people came up with. It's just
my two cents.

But enough of Seinfeld and back to Shandling. Garry's show is
simple, easy viewing. The episodes never take themselves seriously, are good
fun, and you can watch a bunch in a row and lazily let the day fade away. Over
time our characters develop and mature, they get into all kinds of ridiculous
situations, and they bump into the most fascinating people (Chevy Chase, Gilda
Radner, Tom Petty, Charles Conrad—third man on the moon—and so on).
But even though they develop, they're still delightfully quirky—none more
so than Garry himself. Constantly neurotic and always worried about his
hair—and what a coif that is, Garry earns the right to have a show named
after him. Luckily his supporting cast is solid and filled with great actors.
Honestly, it's not always the best acting, but the free flowing, easy going
nature of the program makes up for any acting deficiencies; and this isn't the
show where that's the forefront of your concerns. You want to be entertained and
this show does that episode after episode.

Hefty yet not intimidating, the series gets fantastic treatment from the
folks at Shout! Factory. It's a beautiful, mammoth set that puts all four
seasons into one nice package. Inside that package you'll find eight, slim line
cases, each containing two discs. Each season is broken across four DVDs giving
plenty of room for the transfers and bonus items. (Each episode lasts anywhere
between 20 and 30 minutes.) With that much room, the transfers better be good;
and they are. Video is full frame with accurate, lifelike colors, deep blacks,
and an impressive level of detail for a television series. I didn't see any
abundance of grain, bleed, or any errors across the series. It's a well-mastered
set. The same can be said for the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio mix. While not
spectacular, the track clearly conveys all the dialogue, music, and sound
effects without any hiss or distortion.

The set continues to excel with its bonus material. I found the amount of
special features to be a perfect balance to the series: not too much, not too
little. I'm not going to go into detail on the material as it's all
self-explanatory. I will say I found it all interesting, especially the
featurettes, which provide great context for the series. The material is
scattered across all of the discs with the cases detailing where everything can
be found. First up are the requisite commentaries, and there are 18 of them.
They feature, in some combination, Garry Shandling, Alan Zweibel
(writer/producer), Ed Solomon (writer), Tom Gammill (writer/producer), Max Pross
(writer/producer), Al Jean (writer/producer), and Michael Reiss
(writer/producer). Next up are a bunch featurettes covering the history of the
show: "Getting There—The Road to the Show" (19:11); "Being
There—The Cast Remembers" (26:05); "Still There—The
Writers and Crew Remember" (26:18); "Show and Tell with Tom and
Max" (7:46) (the two go through a "time capsule" of stuff from
the show; "The Shandlines—Backstage Newsletters" (it's copies of
The Shandlines that you can read); "Try to Remember—A Conversation
with Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel" (19:49); and "Bruce
Grayson—The Man Behind the Brush (3:19) (a quick chat with Garry's friend
and makeup artist). Rounding things out are a bunch of outtakes, original
promos, and two sketches from a show by Michael Nesbith, "Garry Dates Miss
Maryland" (4:19) and "Garry's Car" (5:27). Also definitely worth
mention is a 36-page booklet included with the set that contains show
information, pictures, and other goodies about the show.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

What if you find the breaking of the fourth wall annoying? What if you don't
want the characters talking to you, you don't want to see a mini car driving
between the sets, or you don't want to have chats with the cameramen? What if
you don't want Garry to get married? Then there are plenty of other shows from
which to choose. The breaking of the wall is a gimmick that Garry works to
perfection, giving the viewer added opportunities for fun and immersion.

And, Shout! Factory, your one flaw on the set is not allowing the viewer to
skip past all that opening credit stuff that nobody ever wants to watch.

Closing Statement

It's Garry Shandling's Show left me befuddled for ways to describe it
and talk about it. But it's not a complex show; it's just a funny, quaint show
that stands up well 20 years later. As sets like these are geared more for fans
than the casual viewer, my recommendation is skewed to that base. My
recommendation then is a strong buy. The episodes look and sound great; I found
the bonus materials to be substantial, interesting, and in the right amount; and
the packaging itself is top notch. Go out and treat yourself to this series.

The Verdict

It's Garry Shandling's Show is hereby found not guilty of destroying
the ozone layer by using too much hairspray.

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